Subject choices!

sneakymusic123

I'm in 4th year now but I don't know what subjects to do for my leaving cert.

Basically, I just want to know what advice you could offer me about the difficulty of subjects and points.

My junior cert results are:
A/Maths
A/Science
A/Home Ec
A/History
A/Geography
B/Business
B/English
B/Irish
B/CSPE
B/French
(All higher level)

I'm keeping on French. I love Home Ec but K know how hard it is to get an A1 in it. The problem is that I'm told I have a maths brain but I could barely pass higher level maths for 3 years but on the day I found both papers simple. I don't really like physics, but does it change much in Leaving Cert?

Thanks

A97

You've mentioned French, and I definitely recommend keeping it on unless you are dead set on a STEM course or similar which may not require it. Also keep it on if you're interested.

Home Ec can be difficult but there is a project worth 20% and with hard work, you'll probably get on well enough.

I don't really understand how you'd be told that you have a maths brain if you weren't doing too well up until the main exam. There's lots of new material for LC Physics, but the actual mathematical skills required are way lower than what you learn in HL Maths. With an A in Junior Cert HL Maths, you could do 80-90% of the maths now. However, the difficult part is interpreting what you're supposed to do. You need to be logical and understand what you're doing. Most of the maths can be boiled down to substituting into a formula. It can sometimes be difficult to work out the numbers you need or what they mean. All in all, it's not a bad subject if you're interested in Physics, but the course can be a little boring at times.

I did Biology as I was interested in it. Don't do it if you aren't. If you enjoyed it at Junior Cycle, I'd recommend doing it if you're willing to keep on top of the information. You have a huge volume to learn, but most of it is okay if you pay attention in class and revise it from time to time, obviously increasing in frequency and intensity near the end of 6th year.

I didn't do Chemistry but it's interesting if you like it. It's probably the biggest step up of the lab sciences from JC to LC and it very requires an in-depth understanding of the concepts. Having said that, people who click with it generally do very well, and those who don't often struggle.

I did Accounting but I have practically no knowledge of the others at LC level. I think that the Economics course is quite short, which makes revision a bit easier. Business has a strict marking scheme, like Biology, where an answer which is somewhat correct often merits little to no marks. Anyway, I found Accounting kind of boring but it's very methodical. You need to practise the questions and particularly the specific adjustments. The best part for me was seeing a question and knowing that I could do it to A1 standard. If my own class was anything to go by, many smart people take it up and the grades are statistically very high each year all over the country. Others struggle though so don't pick it unless you're comfortable with mostly basic arithmetic, logical thinking and a willingness to repeat things over and over. Personally I found it to be a great subject for doing well in exams but I don't know how much it will stand to me in the future, particularly since I'm not going into a business background.

My knowledge of History and Geography at LC level isn't great but they both have project work which can score you 20% if you do it properly. You're obviously good at the two and if you enjoyed learning about either or both, keep them on. Note that you'll most likely be doing Later Modern History, meaning that much of the content you learned in 1st and 2nd Year isn't taught about, whereas stuff you learned in 3rd Year will be explored in greater detail and you will also learn about other relevant historical events from the last 150 years or so. Also note that half of it is Irish history and the other half concerns Europe and beyond. I really loved most of the time periods explored at the first two years of Junior Cycle, while I didn't really mind the 3rd Year content. I do sort of regret not doing it though, even though I would have preferred if Early Modern was available.

Good luck!:)

Troxck

OP, what subject area/areas would you be interested in studying after school? A language is useful as it opens up all of the Universities to you.

It's very hard to advise you what to pick for the LC if we don't know your area of interest.
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If it's STEM area, then HL Maths along with Physics and Chemistry would be very useful. If you're into STEM but the Health Science side, then both Chemistry and Biology would be useful.

If it's business then obviously Accounting and/or Economics would be the best. The friends I know who do Business in college studied only Business for the LC and will be doing the former areas from scratch.

If it's an area related to Law, Sociology or Politics then HL English and History would be useful. They help with critical thinking and taking in vast quantities of information in a short period of time.

As for Home Ec, do you like it and find it interesting? If so, do it. Ignore the stats regarding the percentage of A, B and C grades etc. It's nice to have a practical subject because it's a break from the usual grind of school. If you're unsure about it, ask the Home Ec teachers about it, teachers usually like it when people show interest in their subject area.

booooring!

I got a D2 in Irish, D1 in English and D3 in German all in higher as I couldn't give a fiddlers fart about them. I only studied them the night before.
I got an A2 in Maths, A2 in Physics and A1 in Chemistry and an A1 in Biology. Biology is actually simple, just a lot to learn.

Just make sure you have an interest in what you pick and points do not mean anything. My course in Electronic Engineering was 360 which I knew I would get and I thank God I studied the subjects I was interested in as gave me a very good start to the course which was all maths and physics and didn't bother with the languages.

After a year or two of employment employment employes don't gave a feck about results so don't fret too much!
Pick subjects relavant to your college course that you plan on doing as If I didn't concentrate on Maths and Physics during the two years I would have been fecked as they picked up where the leaving cert left off!